The Depths · All albums

California

Mr. Bungle · 1999

• Scores: Noise 3, Unease 3, Complexity 4 (each 1 to 5)
• Genre: Rock, Art rock
• Mood: playful, eclectic, surreal
• Sound: genre collage, vaudeville, abrupt shifts

Mr. Bungle recorded this in late 1998 at several San Francisco studios, producing it themselves. Songwriting was much less collaborative than on their earlier albums, and recording was spread across a rehearsal space Trey Spruance had partly turned into a studio, outside studios and multiple engineers. The band linked two 24-track tape machines and two ADATs, and extra players added cello, violin, viola, timpani, cimbalom and pedal steel guitar. Spruance said Brian Wilson was definitely an influence, especially in its Faustian scale.

Track list

1. Sweet Charity (5:05)
2. None of Them Knew They Were Robots (6:03)
3. Retrovertigo (4:59)
4. The Air-Conditioned Nightmare (3:55)
5. Ars Moriendi (4:10)
6. Pink Cigarette (4:55)
7. Golem II: The Bionic Vapour Boy (3:34)
8. The Holy Filament (4:04)
9. Vanity Fair (2:58)
10. Goodbye Sober Day (4:29)